Review Tag Archive
FirstBorn – EIFF 2016
Firstborn, the debut feature from Nirpal Bhogal, is a surprisingly effective hark-back to supernatural domestic thrillers of the 70s. Charlie (Antonia Thomas) and James (Luke Norris) are a young couple with a new born baby which appears to attract supernatural attention. As time goes by and baby Thea grows up, the family find themselves increasingly […]
Seoul Station – EIFF 2016
Yeon Sang-Ho, the South Korean director who brought us animated thrillers The King of Pigs and The Fake, returns to with zombie film Seoul Station. Yes, zombies might be done to death (couldn’t resist) but there’s still room for fun in that swamped sub-genre.
Macbeth Unhinged – EIFF 2016
The directorial debut from Scottish actor Angus Macfayden (Braveheart, Saw II) Macbeth Unhinged is a courageous, but faulted, reinterpretation of the timeless Shakespeare play.
To Steal from a Thief – EIFF 2016
Acclaimed Spanish director Daniel Calparsoro returns to feature filmmaking with heist flick To Steal from a Thief (Cien Anos de Perdon). The Valencia-set thriller follows a group of highly-organised criminals who become trapped in the bank they are trying to rob. With the authorities massing outside matters are further complicated by a corrupt government group […]
Mother – EIFF 2016
Mother (Ema) is the third feature film from young Estonian director Kadri Kousaar, it’s also her first film to really dig its heels into the role of women in contemporary culture.Mother is about an unnamed aging woman stuck in the trap of domestic existence. Her situation is particularly vexed by the round-the-clock care she must
Scream Park DVD
Cary Hill’s debut film Scream Park belongs to the outer rings of straight-to-DVD Hell, its cardinal sin? Being dull as dishwater and twice as disposable. True, the film comes from a band of amateurs funded via Kickstarter, but a lack of budget doesn’t quite account for the systemic issues with Hill’s low-key slasher.
Sorgenfri – DbD 2016
What We Become (also known as Sorgenfri) is the feature debut of Danish writer/director Bo Mikkelsen, a prolific maker of short films for nearly twenty years. The film is touted as the first post-apocalyptic Danish zombie flick and, perhaps surprisingly, the only zombie film on Dead by Dawn’s 2016 bill. Like last year’s Danish entry, […]
Antibirth – DbD 2016
Danny Perez’s colourful stoner horror Antibirth is the kind of post 9/11 Rosemary’s Baby update a lot of people will really enjoy. With a cast of cult regulars like Natasha Lyonne, Chloe Sevigny, Meg Tilly, and Marc Webber Antibirth is packed with charismatic, dedicated performances that charm from start to finish.
We Go On – DbD 2016
When it comes to ghost stories, a film can often lose its audience through repetition, showing us things we’ve already seen a hundred times, We Go On is not one of those films. Directors Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton have already made a name for themselves at Dead by Dawn with their intriguing woods-flick YellowBrickRoad […]
Der Bunker – DbD 2016
Nikias Chryssos’ Der Bunker is the kind of film Dead by Dawn is made for; a dysfunctional family drama whose more outré parts will make it a hard sell for mainstream audiences. Distributed by Artsploitation, the provocative company behind Bunny the Killer Thing, Der Samurai (also starring Pit Bukowski), and Cub, Der Bunker is as […]
